Vertically movable turntable transfer



D. C. ROBSON VERTICALLY MOVABLE TURNTABLE TRANSFER July 3, 1951 FiledFeb. 26, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 R W T S N B Y E E v N R R 1 o c n D. A VY B 5 6 2 l 1m 3 6 -.IF 1| HH 4 0 8 mm I .xg 0 2 .m a. 56 mm m INVENTOR51:53 3 1951 D. c. ROBSON 2,559,319

VERTICALLY MOVABLE TURNTABLE TRANSFER File c1 Feb. 26, 1946 4Sheets-Sheet 2 FEQ. 10 s QIIOIIH mini: tnulmf' rL D. C. RoBsoN ATTORNEYJuly 3, 1951 D. c. ROBSON VERTICALLY MOVABLE TURNTABLE TRANSFER 4Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 26, 1946 ,4 I I I; 42/

INVEN-TOR D. C. Reason BY ATTORNEY July 3, 1951 D. c. ROBSON 2,559,319

VERTICALLY MOVABLE TURNTABLE TRANSFER Filed Feb. 26, 1946 v 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Fl 6 8 HOIST CONTROL CIRCUIT ATTORNEY Patented July 3,1951 VERTICALLY MOVABLE TURNTABLE TRANSFER Duer C. Robson, Baltimore,Md., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application February 26, 1946, Serial No.650,37 6

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to vertically movable turntable transfers andmore particularly to such turntable transfers for conveying supplies tomachines.

In the operation of some machines using large quantities of rawmaterials, conveyers are sometimes used to carry receptacles of suchmaterials to the machines. If such a conveyer is positioned at a leveldifferent from that at which an opening in a hopper of the machine islocated, the-materials must be moved to the opening in the hopper. Thisrequires a great deal of heavy lifting.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved verticallymovable turntable transfers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for raising areceptacle carrying containers of material from the level of a conveyerto a position above a hopper, for turning the receptacle horizontally asit is raised and for tilting the receptacle over on its side at a pointabove the hopper so that the containers may be emptied into the hopperwithout raising them manually.

One apparatus illustrating certain features of the invention maycomprise a conveyer section positioned at one level and a secondconveyer section mounted on a hoist normally in alignment with thefirst-mentioned conveyer section. The second conveyer section is mountedon a turntable carried by the hoist, and means are provided for rotatingthe turntable as the hoist is elevated to a different level.

In one embodiment of the invention, there are provided a main conveyerfor conveying rectangular pans to and from a point near a hopper of amachine and a hoist for raising the pans from the conveyer to a tilter,which turns the pans over on their sides so that their contents may beeasily emptied into the hopper. The hoist includes a roller conveyersection normally in alignment with the main conveyer and mounted on aturntable of the hoist, and the tilter has a roller conveyer sectionwhich is disposed above at right angles to the roller conveyer sectionof the hoist. While the roller conveyer section of the hoist is raisedfrom the level of the main conveyer to the level of the tilter, lostmotion means turns the roller conveyer section of the hoist intoalignment with the roller conveyer section of the tilter so that the panmay be rolled onto the tilter. The tilter then may be driven to turn thepan over on its side at a point convenient to the hopper so that thecontents of the pan may be easily emptied into the hopper.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description of a conveyer forming a specificembodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawingsin which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a conveyer forming oneembodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken along line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken along line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken alongline 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section taken along line 66 of Fig. 2 I

Fig. '7 is an enlarged vertical section taken along line l1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a portion of circuit included in theconveyer;

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of a portion of the circuit, and

Fig. 10 is a schematic view of a portion of the circuit.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is provided a deliverygravity conveyer section 20 (Figs. 1 and 2) and a return gravityconveyer section 2|. A slanting roller conveyer section 22 of a hoist 23bridges the gap between the delivery conveyer section and the returnconveyer section and includes a depressible stop 24, which stops anelongated pan 25 containing packages of material on the roll-er conveyersection 22, which pan After the pan 25 is positioned on the conveyersection 22 of the hoist 23, an operator moves a spring-pressed contactor30 (Fig. '8) of an up switch 3| out of engagement with contacts 32 and33 of the switch and into engagement with contacts 34 and 35 thereof.This connects conductors 40 and 4| of a three-phase powerline 42 (Fig.10) through the following circuit: a conductor 43 (Fig. 8), a normallyclosed safety stop switch 44, conductors 45 and 46, 9. limit switch 52,which is closed at this time, conductors 53 and 54, the contact 34, thecontactor 3D and the contact 35 of the up switch 3|, conductors 55 and56, a contact 60, a spring-pressed contactor 6| normally in engagementwith the contact and a contact 62 of a down switch 63, a conductor 64, awinding 65 of an up relay 66 and conductors 10 and II. This energizesthe winding 65 of the up relay 66, which lcloses up switches 'l212 (Fig.9) of the up relay so that a three-phase reversible hoist motor 73 isdriven in a predetermined direction. The energization of the winding 65(Fig,

the delivery conveyer section delivers to the hoist 8) also closes aholding switch '14 of the relay 66. The holding switch '14 is connectedin parallel with the contacts 34 and 35 of the up switch 31 byconductors '15 and '16 so that the contactor 30 of the up switch 31 maybe released to move out of engagement with the contacts 34 and 35 of theup switch and back into engagement with the contacts 32 and 33 withoutinterrupting the energization of the hoist motor '13 (Fig. 8)

When the hoist motor '13 is caused to run in the above-mentioneddirection by moving the contactor 30 of the up switch 31 into engagementwith the contacts 34 and 35 thereof, the hoist motor, which is mounted,on a stationary frame 80 (Figs. 2 and 6), raises a cable 8| fastened atits lower end to a movable hoist frame 82. This raises the hoist frame,which is provided with vertical guides 83-83 of T-shaped cross-sectionsfitting into vertical guideways 04-84. As the hoist frame 82 is raised,a cam 85 carried thereby moves out of engagement with a normally closedlimit switch 90' and the limit switch 90 closes. This does not affectthe operation of the hoist motor. '13 at this time but sets up the hoistcontrol circuit (Fig.8) so that the hoist motor 13 may be reversed tolower the hoist frame 82 as will be'described hereinafter.

A turntable base 91 (Figs. 4 and is mounted slidably by rollers 92-32 ontracks 93-93 of the hoist frame 82 and includes a bearing. 94 supportedin the center thereof by channels 95-95. A circular turntable platform100 is supported on rollers 101-101 resting on a circular track 102fastened to the turntable base 91 by angle irons 103-103. An angle iron104 and a spacer bar 105 parallel thereto are fastened rigidly to thetop of the turntable platform. The angle iron 1'04 and an angle iron I06fastened rigidly to the spacer bar are fastened rigidly to and mount theroller conveyer section 22 on the turntable platform.

A shaft, 110 mounted rotatably in the bearing 94 is fastened rigidly tothe turntable platform 100 in the center thereof by a block 111 andangle-irons 112-112. A pinion 113 keyed to the lower e' d of the shaftmeshes with a stationary rack 114 mounted on the hoist frame 82 by anangle iron 115. Links 120-120 connect one side of the turntable base 91to one end of each of bell crank levers 121-121 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6),which are pivotally mounted on plates 122-122 secured to the outsides oftheguide tracks 33-93..

Rods 123-123 secured pivotally to the ends of the bell crank leversopposite to the ends thereof to which the links 120-120 are secured aremounted slidably and pivotally in loose-fitting bores, of which aloose-fitting bore 124 is shown, formed in stationary stops 125-125mounted on supports 126-126. Stop collars 130-130 are fastened rigidlyto the rods 123-123 at points above the stops 125-125, and stop collars131- 131 are fastened rigidly to the bottom of the rods 123-123.

After the hoist motor '13 raises the elevator frame 82 and the turntablebase 91 somewhat with respect to a tilter 133, the stop collars 131- 131(Figs. 2 and 6) strike the stops 125-125, which limit further upwardmovement of the rods 123-123. As the hoist frame 82 continues to riseand raises the bell crank levers 121-121, the bell crank levers areturned in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, by the rods123-123. This turning of the bell crank levers moves the turntable base91 through the links 120-120 along the tracks 93-93 to the left awayfrom the turner 133, and the pinion 113 is moved along the stationaryrack 1 14. This turns the pinion which turns the conveyer section 22 ina counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, through the shaft(Fig. 5) and the turntable platform 100, whose rollers 101-101 rollalong the circular track 102.

By the time the conveyer section 22 is raised tothe level of a rollerconveyer section 134 (Fig. 2) of the tilter 133, the conveyer section 22of the hoist 23 has been turned 90 from its full-line position shown inFig. 1 to its broken-line position, in which broken-line position theconveyer sect-ion 22 is aligned with the conveyer section 13 2. At thispoint a cam 138 (Fig. 6) strikes and opens the limit switch 52 so thatthe hoist motor 13' is deen'ergized, and the hoist motor holds the hoistframe and the elements carried thereby in their elevated positions.

The depressible stop 24 (Fig. 1) then is depressed and the elongated pan25 rolls from the conveyer section 22 of the hoist 23 onto the conveyersection 134' of the tilter 133. The conveyer section 134 is supported byarcuate end frames 135 and 136, and the arcuate end frame 136 has anopening 131' (Fig. 7) formed therein to permit the pan 25 to be rolledonto and off of the roller conveyer section 134. Arcuate flanges -140 ofthe arcuate end frames 135 and 135 are supported between rollers 141-141positioned in arcuate paths by supporting plates 142-142. Thrust rollers143-143 mounted on brackets 144-144 prevent lateral movement of thearcuate end frames 135 and 136'. A sprocket 145 (Fig. l) fastenedrigidly to and concentrically with respect to the arcuate end frame 135may be rotated by a chain. (Fig. 2) when the chain is driven by athree-phase reversible tilter motor 151.

After the elongated pan 25 is positioned on the conveyer section 134 ofthe tilter 133, the operator moves a spring-pressed contactor 152 (Fig.8) of a delivery switch 153 out of engagement with contacts 154 and 155and into engagement with contacts and 161. This connects the conductors40 and 41 through the following circuit: a conductor 162, a safety stopswitch 1133, conductors I64 and 165, a normally closed limit switch1'10, conductors 111 and 1'12, the contact 150, the contactor 152 andthe contact 151 of the switch 153, conductors 1'13 and 1'14, aspringpressed contact 1'15 of a reversing switch 1'15, a contactor 1'1'1thereof, a contact 1'18 thereof, a conductor 1'19, a winding of adelivery relay 181,. and conductors 182 and 183. This energizes thewinding 180 of the delivery relay 181, which closes delivery switches184-184 (Fig. 10) of the relay 181 and a holding switch 185 (Fig. 8)connected in parallel with the contacts 153 and 161 of the switch 153 byconductors 185 and 187. The closing of the delivery switches 184-184(Fig. 10) of the relay 181 causes the tilter motor 151 to be driven insuch a direction that it turns the sprocket 1 45 (Figs. 1 and 2), thearcuate end frames 135 and 135, the conveyer section 135 and theelongated pan 25 thereon in clockwise directions, as viewed in Fig. 2.The delivery switch 153 (Fig. 8) may then be released without affectingthe operation of the tilter motor 151 because the holding switch 185 inparallel with the contacts 160 and 161 of the switch 153 is closed.

Shortly after the motor 151 (Fig. 2) is so energized, a, cam carried bythe end frame 136 moves out of engagement with a normally closed limitswitch 191 and theswitch 191 closes. When the arcuate end frames I35 andI36, the conveyer section I34 and the elongated pan 25 have been rotatedsubstantially 90 in clockwise directions, as viewed in Fig. 2, a cam I92carried by the end frame I36 strikes and opens the limit switch I19.This deenergizes the tilter motor I5I and the tilting movement stops ina position inwhich the pan 25 rests on a side member I96 connected tothe arcuate end frames I35 and I36. The open top of the pan now pointstoward the right, as viewed in Fig. 2, and the packages (not shown)therein may be easily emptied into a hopper I93, Which is positioned tothe right of and slightly below the pan when the pan is in thisposition.

After the pan 25 is emptied, the operator moves the contactor I11 (Fig.8) of the reversing switch I16 out of engagement with the contacts I15and I18 and into engagement with contacts I94. and I95 of the reversingswitch I16. This connects the conductors 49 and 4! through the followingcircuit: the conductor I62, the safety stop switch I63, conductors I64and 299, the limit switch I9I, conductors 29l and 292, the contact I54,the contactor I52 and the contact I55 of the delivery switch I53, aconductor 293, the contact I94, the contactor I11 and the contact I 95of the reversing switch I16, conductors 294 and 295, a. winding 2l9 of areversing relay 2H and conductors 2I2 and I83. This energizes thereversing relay 2I I, which closes reversing switches 2 I 32 I 3 (Fig.10) thereof, and the reversible tilter motor I5I is driven in adirection in which the arcuate end frames I35 and I36 (Fig. 1), theconveyer section I 34 and the pan 25 are rotated back to their positionshown in Fig. 2.

When the winding 2I9 (Fig. 8) of the relay 2 is so energized, it closesa holding switch 2I4 of the relay 2. The holding switch 2I4 is connectedin parallel with the contacts I94 and I95 of the reversing switch I16 byconductors 2I5 and 2I6 so that the spring-pressed contactor I11 of thereversing switch I16 may be permitted to move out of engagement with thecontacts I94 and I95 and back into engagement with the contacts I and I18 without, interrupting the circuit to the tilter motor I5I (Fig. 10),which continues to run.

Shortly after the tilter motor I5I starts to return the arcuate endframes I35 and I36 (Figs. 1 and 2) to their original positions, the camI92 is moved out of engagement with the limit switch I19, which closesso that the delivery circuit may again be closed at a later time. Whenthe turned elements of the tilter I 33 reach their original positions,the cam I99 strikes the limit switch I9I and opens it, whereby thetilter motor I5I is stopped.

The pan 25 then is rolled back onto the conveyer section 22 of the hoist23, and the operator moves the spring-pressed contactor 6| (Fig. 8) ofthe down switch into engagement with contacts 229 and 22I thereof. Thisconnects the two conductors 49 and M through the following circuit: theconductor 43, the safety stop switch 44, conductors 45 and 22, the limitswitch. 99, which was closed as described hereinabove,"conductors 223and 224, the contact 32, the contactor 39 and the contact 33 of the upswitch 3|, a conductor 225, the contact 229, the contactor 6| and thecontact 22I of the down switch 63, conductors 226 and 221, a winding 239of a down relay 23I, and conductors 232 and H.

This energizes the winding 239 of the down relay 23I, which closesnormally open down switches 233-433 (Fig. 9) of the down relay,

which causes the hoist motor 13 to be driven in a direction opposite tothat in which it was driven when described hereinabove. The cable 8|(Fig. .2) then is lowered and the hoist frame 92, the elements of thehoist 23 carried thereby and the pan 25 are permitted to return to theirfirstdescribed positions by gravity. However, the cable and the hoistmotor prevent too rapid a descent.

The energization of the winding 239 of the down relay'23I (Fig. 8) alsocloses a holding switch 234 of the down relay. The holding switch 234 isconnected in parallel with the contacts 229 and HI of the down switch 63so that the spring-pressed contactor BI thereof may be releasedimmediately after it has been moved into engagement with the contacts229 and 22I without interrupting the hoist motor 13 (Fig. 9).

As the movable elements of the hoist 23 (Fig. 6) descend, the cam I 38moves out of engagement with the limit switch 52, which recloses. Thestop collars I39I39 move into engagement with the stops I25I25 andfurther downward movement of the rod I 23I 23 is prevented. The bellcrank levers I 2 I-I 2I continue to move downwardly so that they arepivoted in clockwise directions, as viewed in Fig. 6, to their positionsshown in the drawings. The bell crank levers roll the turntable base 9|along the tracks 9393 back to its original position through the linksI29i 29. As the turntable base 9| is rolled back, it moves the pinion H3(Figs. 4 and 5) along the rack H4 and the turntable platform I99 and theconveyer section 22 are rotated back to their original positions. Inthis position, the conveyer section 22 is in alignment with the conveyersections 29 and 2 I, and the depressible stop 24 then is depressed topermit the emptied pan 25 to roll down the return conveyer section 2 I.

As the hoist frame 82 (Fig. 6) reaches its original position, the cam 85opens the limit switch 99 so that the winding 239 (Fig. 8) of the downrelay 23I is deenergized and the down switches 233233 (Fig. 9) open.This deenergizes the hoist motor 13. The operation described hereinabovethen may be repeated to hoist, turn, unload and return another elongatedpan (not shown) similar to the pan 25 (Figs. 1 and 2).

In the operation of the conveyer described hereinabove, the elongatedpan 25 is moved by gravity down the delivery conveyer section 29 andonto the conveyer section 22 of the hoist 23. The hoist is actuated asdescribed hereinabove to lift the elongated pan to the tilter I33 and toturn the elongated pan into alignment with the conveyor section I 34.The pan then is moved onto the conveyer section I34. The tilter isactuated to tilt the pan to a position on its side, the contents of thepan are emptied into the hopper I92, and the tilter is reversed toreturn the pan to an upright position. The empty pan then is pushed backonto the hoist, and the hoist then is lowered to the level of theconveyer sections 29 and 2I. The pan is carried away by the returnconveyor section 2|, and the operation described hereinabove may berepeated to unload the contents of another elongated pan (not shown).

The hoist 23 raises the elongated pan 25 and turns the conveyer section22 thereof and the pan from positions at right angles to the tilter I 33to positions in alignment with the tilter. As it so turns the conveyersection 22 and the pan, it moves them outwardly away from the tilter sothat clearance is provided for their turning movesag-negate:

ment... The hoist and. the: tilter move; thefp'an from an uprightposition on the level of the con-,- veyer sections to a positionon itsside above the hopper and immediately adjacent, thereto with.- outmanualhandling of the pan so-thatthe contents of the pan may be emptiedwithout: lift.- ing them-manually fromthe level of the conveyer sections251 and 2|.

What is claimed is:

I. A turntable transfer, which comprises a conveyer section positionedat a predetermined level, a second conveyer section normally'inalignment with the first-mentioned conveyer section, a hoist for raisingthe second-mentioned conveyer section out of the level of thefirst-mentioned-conveyer section, a turntable-carriage slidable alongthe hoist,.a turntable carried-by the slidable car-- riage forsupporting the second turntable transfer section, and means: for slidingthe: carriage along, the hoist and? turning the turntable as the, hoistoperates to raise: and turn the entire sec-- ondi-mentionedrconveyer.section to a positionin which it is at an angle with the first-mentionedconveyer section.

2'. A. turntable transfer, which comprises a conveyer section positionedat a predetermined level, a second conveyer section normallypositionedat the same level as and' in alignment with thefirst-mentioned conveyer section, a horizontal turntable for supportingthe last-mentioned conveyer section, means for moving the turntablevertically to move the last-mentioned conveyer section out of the levelof the first.- mentioned conveyer. section, a rack, apinion meshing withthe rack and operatively connected with the turntable for turning theturntable, and means automatically operable by vertical movement of theturntable for eilecting relative movement between the rack and thepinion to turn the turntable.

3. A turntable transfer, which comprises a conveyer section positionedat a predetermined.

level, a second conveyer section normally positioned at the same levelas and in alignment with.

thefirst-mentioned conveyer section, ahorizontal turntable forsupporting the last-mentioned conveyer section, means for moving theturntable vertically to move the last-mentioned conveyer section out ofthe level of the first-mentioned conveyer section, a rack, and a pinionmeshing r with the rack and operatively connectedwitli the turntable forturning the turntable, said pinion being movable along the rack when theturntable is moved by the turntable-moving means for turning thelast-mentioned conveyer section.

4. A turntable transfer, which comprises a conveyer section, a secondconveyer section, a.

turntable for supporting the last-mentioned: conveyer section, a rollercarriage for supporting the. turntable, a guide for supporting thecarriage at one end of the first-mentioned conveyer section,-

means for supporting the guide at an angle with respect to thefirstrmentionedconveyer section and for moving the guide transverselywith re-' spect to the longitudinal axis of the first-men.- tionedconveyer section, means associated with the guide-moving means formoving the roller carriage along the guide, a rack carried by the guidein a position parallel therewith, and apinion secured to the turntableand being, movable along the rack; when the roller carriage'ismovedalong the guide for turning the turntable and the last-mentionedconveyer section withrespect to the first-mentioned conveyer section.

5. A turntable transfer, whichcomprises a con.-

-' at an angle with respect to that conveyer section:

at a; level different from. that of that conveyersection, a turntablefor supporting the movable: conveyer section,- an elevator including aguide. parallel to the first-mentioned conveyer section: for guiding theturntable toward and away'from' that conveyer section, means foractuating; the.- elevator' to move; the. movable conveyer sectionv tothe level of thefirst-mentioned conveyer sec:- tion, meansfor movingthe. turntable alone. the

. guide,v and means for actuating the turntable. to

turn the: movable conveyer section to a position: in which it extends inthe same direction a the first-mentioned conveyer section.

6. A turntable transfer, which comprises a consveyer section-extendingin a predetermineddirew tion at. a predetermined level, a secondconveyer section normallyin a position in which it. is. at an. end' of.the. first-mentioned conveyer section and. extends at. an angle withrespect to the first 1 mentioned conveyer section at a level below.that.

of the first-mentioned conveyer section, a.turn--- table for supportingthe last-mentioned conveyer section, a: hoist including a. guideparallel to.- the first-mentionedconveyer section for guiding: the;turntable toward and away from the first-memtioned" conveyer section,means for raising.v the hoist to raise the second conveyer section tothe levela of the first-mentioned conveyer section, means for moving theturntable along, the guide as the hoist is raised to move the secondconveyer section relative to the first-mentioned, conveyer section, andmeans for actuating the turntable, to turn the second conveyer sectionto a position. in which it extends in the. same direction as the.

, first-mentioned. conveyer section.

7. A turntable transfer, which comprises a stae tionary conveyer sectionextending ina predetere mined direction at a predetermined level, a movable conveyer section normally in a position in.

which it is at. an end of the stationary conveyer.

' sectionand extends at an angle with respect thereto and is at a levelbelow that conveyersec-- tion, a-turntable for supporting the movableconveyer section, a hoist including a guide parallel.

, to the conveyer section of the turner for guiding,

the turntable toward and away from the station-- ary conveyer section,means for actuating. the hoist to raise the movable conveyer section tothe. level of the stationary conveyer section, means. operable by thehoist for moving the turntable:

along the guide, a rack carried by the hoist inla.

REFERENCES CITED The following references. are of record in" thefile ofthis. patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,559,319July 3, 1951 DUER C. ROBSON It is hereby certified that error appears inthe printed specification of the above numbered patent requiringcorrection as follows:

Column 7, lines 18 and 19, for turntable transfer read convey er;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, sothat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOffice. Signed and sealed this 18th'day of September, A. D. 1951.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

